Wednesday, June 30, 2010
"CREATION" out on DVD 6-29-10
Click the post title for a review of the movie "Creation", the story of Emma Wedgwood Darwin and Charles Darwin. Good reviews of the movie have not been forth-coming in our experience nor does this one make me want to run out and buy the DVD. But it IS an interesting story with far-reaching ramifications, so perhaps learning more about the couple is better than ignoring the movie. Let us know what YOU think after having seen the movie or this new DVD!
Friday, June 25, 2010
WEDGWOOD JASPER INSERTS ON HISTORIC SWORD HILT
Click on the post title to see an interesting internet posting about an historic dress sword in the reserve collection of the Victoria & Albert which apparently sports two small Wedgwood jasper cameos. The author's description of the cameos' colors leaves a bit to be desired - however the tag names Matthew Boulton, so apparently he was the crafter of the hilt, and we know he used cameos supplied by Wedgwood & Sons so they probably ARE really Wedgwood cameos. Upon further research I find that there is an excellent article about sword hilts mounted with Wedgwood cameos on page 132 & 133 of the hardbound edition of The Dwight and Lucille Beeson Wedgwood Collection at the Birmingham Museum of Art. The hilts there are very much like this one in style and shape. Check it out! There is a softbound edition of the book too, perhaps found at your local library. If you are a collector, you should have this book. 
Additionally the catalogue of the 250th Wedgwood Anniversary Exhibition at the DAR Museum which closed in February, 2010, illustrates a sword hilt very similar to this photo. It is held by the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester, MA. It too was made by Matthew Boulton, leading manufacturer of decorative metalwork in the 18th century. The 5 illustrated cameos in this hilt are dark blue with white sprigged relief. We do still have a couple of the exhibit catalogues for sale, check our website or contact us.
Additionally the catalogue of the 250th Wedgwood Anniversary Exhibition at the DAR Museum which closed in February, 2010, illustrates a sword hilt very similar to this photo. It is held by the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester, MA. It too was made by Matthew Boulton, leading manufacturer of decorative metalwork in the 18th century. The 5 illustrated cameos in this hilt are dark blue with white sprigged relief. We do still have a couple of the exhibit catalogues for sale, check our website or contact us.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
WEDGWOOD TIDBIT Top Antique Treasures of the Year 2007
In looking for a document just now on my computer, I found this tidbit of information I had saved from a 2007 issue of Art & Antiques Magazine, one of my favorites:
Last March as Alan Darr, curator of European sculpture and decorative arts at the Detroit Institute of Arts, led patrons and high-level museum personnel through the crowded Maastricht art fair (TEFAF), he discovered what he calls a "masterpiece of French Directoire and pre-Empire furniture." For years, Darr had been looking for an important example of such furniture, typical of the late 18th century, and what he and his colleagues found at the booth of the Zurich dealer Richard Redding is, says Darr, "one of the great pieces of European furniture to come up in the market in many years." One of the specialists on the trip with Darr made the pronouncement that no other American institution had anything like this mahogany pier table with a sphinx monopod, designed by a virtual consortium of period master artisans. The masterful demi-lune Parisian pier table, or console, is characterized by reddish-brown mahogany veneers, gilt bronzes, Wedgwood medallions, a blue marble top and a winged sphinx. As Darr explains, the Greek version of the Egyptian sphinx features wings. He would not disclose the purchase price except to say, "It is worth well above $500,000." —D.M.
Art & Antiques 2007 ~100 top Treasures of the year
Last March as Alan Darr, curator of European sculpture and decorative arts at the Detroit Institute of Arts, led patrons and high-level museum personnel through the crowded Maastricht art fair (TEFAF), he discovered what he calls a "masterpiece of French Directoire and pre-Empire furniture." For years, Darr had been looking for an important example of such furniture, typical of the late 18th century, and what he and his colleagues found at the booth of the Zurich dealer Richard Redding is, says Darr, "one of the great pieces of European furniture to come up in the market in many years." One of the specialists on the trip with Darr made the pronouncement that no other American institution had anything like this mahogany pier table with a sphinx monopod, designed by a virtual consortium of period master artisans. The masterful demi-lune Parisian pier table, or console, is characterized by reddish-brown mahogany veneers, gilt bronzes, Wedgwood medallions, a blue marble top and a winged sphinx. As Darr explains, the Greek version of the Egyptian sphinx features wings. He would not disclose the purchase price except to say, "It is worth well above $500,000." —D.M.
Art & Antiques 2007 ~100 top Treasures of the year
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Our Friend Piers, Lord Wedgwood makes a Statement at English Speaking Union Bash
Here is Piers, with lovely wife Jean, attending a party and fund-raiser to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's Birthday at the English Speaking Union in Philadelphia. In the second pic they are in the background, but scroll down for a close up shot of our friend Piers smiling and schmoozing, what he does SO very well!
Friday, June 4, 2010
WEDGWOOD DESIGNER DIES IN APRIL
Norman Makinson 1923-2010 has died. Click the title of this post to go to his obituary. Makinson designed the well-known and popular mug commemorating the Festival of Britain in 1951 and the tableware pattern Partridge in a Pear Tree on the Coupe/Savoy shape. He was a designer and artist for Wedgwood, served in the Royal Marines in World War II and later taught design. Another of the Wedgwood 'old timers' leaves behind a great legacy.
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